Kirby visits Roman Imperial Palace of Sirmium site

SREMSKA MITROVICA - U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Michael Kirby visited the Roman Imperial Palace of Sirmium and restoration labs in Sremska Mitrovica on Thursday.

Kirby said that huge progress had been made in the restoration of mosaics at the palace in the past six months and expressed satisfaction about the outstanding cooperation between the United States and Serbia in the project.

Last year, within the framework of the celebrations of 1,700 years since the adoption of the Edict of Milan, the U.S. Embassy contributed USD 73,000 to the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Sremska Mitrovica for the restoration of ancient mosaics at the Roman Imperial Palace of Sirmium.

Kirby pointed out that great progress had been made in the works on the mosaics since June, when he had last visited the archaeological site in Sremska Mitrovica.

It will be a wonderful room and I hope that this time next year, people will be able to enjoy it and see what the palace used to look like, Kirby told reporters in the Serbian city 70 km north of Belgrade.

He said he was happy that his country had contributed to efforts to help Serbia learn more about and better understand their history.

This is an outstanding example of cooperation between students from the U.S. and Serbia, Kirby said, pointing out that it would be there for a long time as the projects would take years to complete.

Photo screenshot Tanjug video